Snuff is a 1976 American splatter horror film, and is most notorious for being marketed as if it were an actual snuff film. Its release contributed to the urban legend of snuff films, although the concept did not originate with it.

The film started out as a low-budget gore film titled Slaughter – although Daughters of De Sade was also considered – which was written and directed by the husband-and-wife grindhouse filmmaking team of Michael Findlay and Roberta Findlay.

Filmed in Argentina in 1971 on a budget of roughly $30,000, it depicted the actions of a Manson-esque murder cult, filmed mainly in silence due to the actors understanding very little English. Film financier Jack Bravman (Zombie Nightmare) received an out-of-court settlement from American International Pictures (AIP) so the latter could use the title for the 1972 Jim Brown action movie of the same name.

Independent low-budget distributor and sometime producer Allan Shackleton took the film and shelved it for four years—but was inspired to release it with a new ending, unbeknownst to the original filmmakers, after reading a newspaper article in 1975 on the rumor of snuff films produced in South America and decided to cash in on the urban legend. He removed the credits and added a new ending, filmed in a vérité style by Simon Nuchtern (not adult movie director Carter Stevens as is often cited), in which a woman is brutally murdered by a film crew, supposedly the crew of Slaughter. The new footage purportedly showed an actual murder, and was spliced onto the end of Slaughter with an abrupt edit…

On October 22nd 2013, Snuff was released on Blu-ray by Blue Underground as an extras packed disc, starting out in a limited-edition “blood-red” case available only with the first pressing.

Buy: DVD | Blu-ray from Amazon.com

Reviews:

Snuff is a very dull film that will frustrate the handful of people who actually find the story interesting by finishing before the end. For all its notoriety, it has scant sex and violence – even the tacked on ending is pretty tame – and as these are the only possible elements that would make it interesting, the movie stands as a real test of stamina for viewers.

Perhaps if you do watch it, skip straight to the last five minutes, check out what all the fuss is about and then find something better to do.

David Flint, HORRORPEDIA

Other reviews:

“Clever promotion turned this incompetent gore quickie into one of the most controversial movies ever … With virtually no nudity, the incoherent effort works strictly as a spectacle of amateurishly staged violence using animal entrails and crude effects in the style of Herschell Gordon Lewis’ films.” The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror

“Now, by today’s standards the gore effects aren’t THAT impressive. However, if I was watching this on a grainy or badly copied VHS I would have shit my pants as throughout the entire sequence both the male and female actors performances make it seem so plausible. See this movie for the history, nothing more.” James Wikes, 42nd Street Cinema

“It is pure garbage, but quite hilarious garbage. There’s quite a few boobs, toe-cutting, multiple stabbings, finger-cutting, evisceration and a stabbing cross-cut with a woman having an orgasm. If that’s not enough to tempt you consider a scene where “Sutawn” hilariously jumps up on a picnic table and tells a girl to “submit to me and pain” and then two other girls kiss. That oughta do it.” Tucker Battrell, This Coleslaw Makes Me Sick

“Sure, there are sleazy elements that may be enjoyed by some, but in truth, they’re never expounded upon enough to be shocking. The women are beautiful, but even the pervos among us will be sorely disappointed: there are sex scenes, but the camera spends the entire time zoomed in on the actresses’ face like the excised footage of a Warholian stag film.” Midnite Media

“Were it not for that ending and the furore surrounding it, Snuff would surely have been forgotten a long time ago. Beyond the infamy, it’s a stultifyingly average film.”Joel Harley, Horror News

” … the original movie Slaughter would have been a vaguely passable but extremely forgettable time-waster, with enough blood and boobs to keep you awake even as the film-making left you cold. With the footage added, it becomes something else, and it ain’t pretty.” 80s Fear

” …a trailblazer, a very awful, boring, tasteless and deceitful, trailblazer.” Kindertrauma

Read newspaper clippings about Snuff from 1976 at Temple of Schlock

Thanks to Sick-Films.com for some images and Critical Condition for the VHS sleeves.

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New and future releases

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‘The ULTIMATE in Satanic possession!’

The Devil’s Rain is a 1975 American supernatural horror film directed by Robert Fuest (The Abominable Dr. Phibes; Dr. Phibes Rises Again; And Soon the Darkness) from a screenplay by Gabe Essoe, James Ashton and associate producer Gerald Hopman (Evilspeak). It has also been released as Satanic Blood.

It was one of the several films, such as The Horror at 37,000 Feet and Kingdom of the Spiders, that William Shatner starred in between the original Star Trek TV series and Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Other familiar names in the cast included Tom Skerritt (Poltergeist III; The Dead Zone; Alien), Ernest Borgnine (Deadly Blessing), Eddie Albert (Sorceress; The Demon Murder Case), Ida Lupino (The Food of the Gods), and Keenan Wynn (Piranha; The Dark).

John Travolta appears in an early minor role before Carrie but he was top-billed “at his most exciting Fever-pitch” when Joseph Brenner Associates re-released The Devil’s Rain in 1978 on a double-bill with Virgin Witch.

On October 31, The Devil’s Rain is released on Blu-ray and DVD by Severin Films.

• Audio Commentary With The Devil’s Rain Director Robert Fuest
• Confessions Of Tom – Interview With Actor Tom Skerritt
• The Devil’s Makeup – Interview With Special FX Artist Tom Burman
• 1975 Archive Interview With Actor William Shatner
• First Stop Durango – Interview With Script Supervisor Ana Maria Quintana
• Consulting with the Devil – A Conversation with the High Priest & High Priestess of the Church of Satan
• Hail Satan! – Interview With Anton LaVey Biographer Blanche Barton
• Filmmaker / Horror Collector Daniel Roebuck On The Devil’s Rain
• On Set Polaroid Gallery Of Script Supervisor Ana Maria Quintana Accompanied By Radio Spots
• Poster/Still Gallery
• TV Spots
• Theatrical Trailer

Buy Blu-ray: Amazon.com

Buy DVD: Amazon.com 

Reviews:

“What makes The Devil’s Rain as entertaining as it is, and what probably accounts for its long lifespan as a much-discussed cult curiosity, is that it is just so f*cking weird. Though most elements of this film are things which a longtime horror fan will have seen many times before, they have been combined here in such a cockeyed, counterintuitive manner that The Devil’s Rain comes across as being far more original than it actually is.” 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting

” …the general public still had a lot of fear towards the darkness, and that pall hangs over the proceedings in an oppressive manner geared towards the easily swayed. Oh, and don’t forget your ’70s downer ending to cap off a doozy of a ride. I can’t explain how The Devil’s Rain comes together (because it really doesn’t), but it works for me as a unique take on an already shopworn trope.” Scott Drebit, Daily Dead

“Ernest Borgnine probably has the most fun here. You’ll wonder why Fuest bothered to spend so much time on the scenery as Borgnine chews through it at every opportunity. Where Shatner plays it straight, delivering every line like it was Shakespeare, Borgnine plays to the cheap seats.” Neil Williams, This is Horror

“All of this would be good silly fun if the movie weren’t so painfully dull. The problem is that the material’s stretched too thin. There’s not enough here to fill a feature-length film. No doubt that’s why we get so many barren landscapes filled with lonely music and ennui.” Roger Ebert

“As for The Devil’s Rain, there’s just so much crammed into this production, it almost collapses under its own weight. In addition to the search for the demonic tome, the bottle of souls, the hooded, eyeless followers, voodoo dolls and magic amulets, there’s also the inclusion of ESP by way of Preston’s wife, Julie.” Cool Ass Cinema

things become heavy-handed, revealing the ragged direction, a dire script, and performances which range from the bemused (Albert) to the awful (Borgnine). Fuest butters on the special effects, which culminate in a tediously extended final splurge when almost the whole cast dissolves into a puddle of green slime.” Ina Birch, Time Out Film Guide

Buy: Amazon Instant | Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

“Nobody phones in their performance and Borgnine seemed to have a lot of fun playing a devil-worshipping bloodthirsty crazy man. This one is just too strange to pass up. It’s a real bad movie, but come on now. If someone was able to stick this cast in a movie about black-eyed Satanists who melt into puddles of wax and come out with something good, then that’s pretty indisputable proof that there is no God.” Ugo.com

“The plot structure robs the film of its most interesting characters early on, and the heavily scrutinized special effects only reveal them for what they are: special effects. The Devil’s Rain is a sad punctuation for Fuest’s 1970s horror career.” John Kenneth Muir, Horror Films of the 1970s

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca

“Confused and confusing horror movie which gets by on its excellent special effects and make-up, a starry cast that appears to believe every word of the script and stylish direction by Fuest.” Alan Frank, The Horror Film Handbook

” … the ultimate cult movie. It’s about a cult, has a cult following, was devised with input from a cult leader, and saw a future superstar indoctrinated into a cult he’d help popularise.” Michael Adams, Showgirls, Teen Wolves, and Astro Zombies (2010)

Buy DVD: Amazon.co.uk

“By the time this latest satanism epic ends, it is clear that the wailing is a bit of auditory ectoplasm. It is the accumulated sufferings of the audience at the previous showing that are giving tongue. The Devil’s Rain is ostensibly a horror film, but it barely manages to be a horror.” Vincent Canby, The New York Times

“Contemporary horror-Western ought to be better than it is. It boasts an impressive cast doing fair work and a talented director. But the light touch that Robert Fuest displayed with the Dr. Phibes films is buried under a leaden pace.” Mike Mayo, The Horror Show Guide

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca

“Trashy film, barely salvaged in the final minutes when the Evil Ones are drenched in a satanic rainstorm, turning into oozing, melting puddles of multi-colored wax.” John Stanley, Creature Features

“A highly recommended spectacle… The Devil’s Rain deserves to be rediscovered by today’s fright fans.” DVD Talk

“One of the best mass melts in movie history… A hugely sick treat. You know you wanna see it!” EatMyBrains.com

“A prime slice of ’70s horror cinema… For fans of The Shat and Devil cinema, with one of the wildest effects-laden finales ever!” CoolAssCinema.com

Cast and characters:

• Ernest Borgnine as Jonathan Corbis
• Eddie Albert as Dr. Sam Richards
• William Shatner as Mark Preston
• Ida Lupino as Emma Preston – The Food of the Gods
• Tom Skerritt as Tom Preston
• Joan Prather as Julie Preston
• Keenan Wynn as Sheriff Owens
• John Travolta as Danny – Carrie
• George Sawaya as Steve Preston
• Woodrow Chambliss as John
• Lisa Todd as Lilith
• Erika Carlsson as Aaronessa Fyffe – Demonoid
• Tony Cortez as First Captor
• Anton LaVey as High Priest of the Church of Satan
• Diane LaVey as Priscilla Corbis
• Robert Wallace as Matthew Corbis

Trivia:

Some of the special effects makeup was provided by Ellis Burman (Howling II; Cat People; One Dark Night; Prophecy; Empire of the Ants; Gargoyles).

Image credits: Wrong Side of the Art! | Diabolik! Diabolik!

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Horror movies free to watch online

The Ghoul is a 1974 British horror film directed by Freddie Francis from a screenplay by John Elder [Anthony Hinds] and produced by his son, Kevin Francis for Tyburn Film productions (Persecution; Legend of the Werewolf).

The strident score was by Harry Robinson, supervised by Philip Martel.

The movie stars Peter Cushing, John Hurt (10 Rillington Place, Alien), Alexandra Bastedo (The Blood Spattered Bride), Gwen Watford, Veronica Carlson (Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed), Stewart Bevan, Ian McCulloch (Zombie Flesh Eaters, Zombie Holocaust), John D. Collins, Dan Meaden “and introducing” Don Henderson as The Ghoul.

In 1920s England, a group of champagne-fuelled upper-class people take part in a drunken automobile race to Land’s End Cornwall. However, due to fog, a lack of petrol and an accident along the way, they end up on a rural estate owned by a tortured former priest played by Peter Cushing.

Initially menaced by sadistic groundskeeper Tom (John Hurt), they eventually discover the priest has a horrific secret linked to his former experiences in India…

Many critics have pointed out that the plot of The Ghoul is remarkably similar to Hammer’s The Reptile, with the theme of a father protecting his murderous offspring who has been corrupted by Indian cults, and who is in turn both protected and enslaved by a sinister Indian servant. Was this post-colonial British angst, or unintentionally typical 1970s racism?

Read this Carfax Abbey interview with producer Kevin Francis

The Ghoul was novelised by Guy N. Smith (as Guy Smith) and published by Sphere. Smith brought his usual no-nonsense approach to the story and expanded the graphic violence (barely seen on screen) considerably.

Buy novelisation: Amazon.co.uk

Reviews:

Jitterbugging British toffs who get squiffy and go on a jolly race can hardly have been the focus for the average horror fan’s sympathy in mid-70s economically depressed Britain; indeed, there is a class conflict that’s played out towards the climax.

On the acting front, John Hurt, Veronica Carlson, Alexandra Bastedo and Peter Cushing are all splendid. In a touching moment, Cushing says:”my wife is dead” and he had clearly suffered in real life.

However, good thesping aside, there were more dynamic, visceral modern horror films, such as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Let Sleeping Corpses Lie and Shivers lurking around to shock jaded audiences.

Also regretful is the casting of British actress Gwen Watford ‘browned up’ as the obsessed Indian spouse. With The Black and White Minstrel Show still being shown on British TV until 1978 (!) this was perhaps still part of a cultural changeover that was yet to allow the casting of an Indian actress. And when Cushing’s character rants that he found only “filth and degradation” in the sub-Continent the viewer is left to wonder where the filmmaker’s sympathies lay? Alas, xenophobia does seem to be the sub-text.

Adrian J Smith, HORRORPEDIA

Other reviews:

“One is really glad when the whole slow charade is over. To think that such dated and hackneyed films are still being made is a sad reflection on the British film industry” Little Shoppe of Horrors (1978)

“While set in the 1920’s, this has less of a period feel than the Hammer films and aligns itself closer to contemporary horror with a variety of shock tactics and a far stronger heroine than Hammer usually managed. Veronica Carlson’s character was relatively soppy in Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, but here she’s braver and more independent.” Black Hole Reviews

“Beautifully shot, with fog-shrouded moors, a lovely period setting and a racist “white-woman-blacked-up-to-play-an-Indian” bit of casting, The Ghoul is a top-notch Gothic horror in the Hammer tradition, which unfortunately by the time it was made was woefully out of whack with the trends at the time. Still, with the benefit of hindsight, it’s a cracker”. BritishHorrorFilms.co.uk

“Numerous Hammer alumni, such as Cushing, Carlson, Hinds and Francis, contributed to The Ghoul, but it still feels like the cheap imitation it is, a feeling that’s exacerbated by the fairly underwhelming sets and locations … The Ghoul is more interesting than it is good, but parts of it are a treat for devotees of Peter Cushing and Veronica Carlson.” Mistlake’s Blog

‘The film breaks the mold of the Hammer Gothic drama in choosing a an Edwardian rather than Victorian setting. Unfortunately, the plot is irritating – not much is ever explained about Don Henderson’s cannibalistic creature, how he ended up that way, for instance, nor the need for the sacrifices and Eastern religious trappings’. Moria.co.nz

Release:

The Ghoul was originally certified by the UK BBFC on 29/07/1974 at 92m 42s, following cuts to (a) remove the third close-up of the knife embedded in Geoffrey’s face (b) remove a knee to the groin delivered by Veronica Carlson to John Hurt. However, the subsequent theatrical version was only 87m following some last minute snipping by the distributors. It was released in May 1975.

The full version, with BBFC cuts restored, was subsequently released on UK video on the Taste of Fear label. The differences are as follows:

The opening party sequence is extended by about 2m 30s via several additional dialogue extensions that largely serve to explain Carlson’s character. In particular the conversation between her and Ian McCulloch when she is sitting in the car is nearly a minute longer and the subsequent three way conversation by another car involving Stewart Bevan is extended by about 40s.

About 35m into the film, directly after Peter Cushing asks Carlson whether there is anything she would like before dinner, the extended version has a new sequence lasting about 2m 30s in which Carlson is escorted upstairs to her bedroom and takes a bath (fans of the lady should note that her left breast is briefly visible). This sequence is missing entirely from the theatrical print.

After Bach’s tocatta and fugue strikes up on the soundtrack the extended version has an extra 1m showing Carlson emerge from the bedroom, clothed again, and go down the stairs where she then peeks in on Cushing in his chapel. In the theatrical version it’s a bit odd that Cushing is surprised by her given that in the previous scene they’d been together in his drawing room.

This Turkish poster uses artwork from The Bloodstained Shadow 

Cast and characters:

• Peter Cushing as Doctor Lawrence
• John Hurt as Tom Rawlings
• Alexandra Bastedo as Angela
• Gwen Watford as Ayah
• Veronica Carlson as Daphne Wells Hunter
• Don Henderson as The Ghoul
• Ian McCulloch as Geoffrey
• Stewart Bevan as Billy
• John D. Collins as “Young Man”
• Dan Meaden as The Police Sergeant

Filming locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire. Shooting began 4 March 1974.

Thanks to Museu do VHS for the Brazilian video image and Electric Warrior on the Brit Movie forum for details of BBFC cuts.

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Having been released on Blu-ray by Blue Underground (in the USA) and Shameless (in the UK), Italian giallo horror thriller Torso is receiving a brand-new Special Edition 2K restoration via Arrow Films, with a slew of mouth-watering extra features.

“A talented and versatile journeyman, director Sergio Martino (The Case of the Scorpion’s Tail, Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key) has lent his talents to multiple genres across his long and varied career, but it is undoubtedly his giallo thrillers from the early 70s for which he is best known. Among the most highly acclaimed of these, 1973’s Torso revels in the genre’s time-honoured traditions while simultaneously laying the groundwork for the modern slasher movie.

A sex maniac is prowling the streets of Perugia, targeting picturesque university town’s female students. Alarmed at plummeting life expectancy of the student body, Jane (Suzy Kendall, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage) and her three friends elope to a secluded country villa – only to discover that, far from having left the terror behind, they’ve brought it with them!

Also known as Carnal Violence, Torso was released in Italy towards the end of the giallo boom before enjoying a second life on the American grindhouse circuit. Co-starring Tina Aumont (Salon Kitty) and Luc Merenda (The Violent Professionals), the film finds its director at the top of his game, delivering copious levels of violence, sleaze and one of the tensest cat-and-mouse games ever committed to celluloid!”

Special features:

• Brand new 2K restoration of the film from the original camera negative by Arrow Films
•  High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations of both versions of the film: the 94-minute Italian and 90-minute English cuts
•  Original lossless Italian and English mono soundtracks*
• English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack
• New audio commentary by Kat Ellinger, author of All the Colours of Sergio Martino
• New video interview with co-writer/director Sergio Martino
• New video interview with actor Luc Merenda
• New video interview with co-writer Ernesto Gastaldi
• New video interview with filmmaker Federica Martino, daughter of Sergio Martino
• New video interview with Mikel J. Koven, author of La Dolce Morte: Vernacular Cinema and the Italian Giallo Film
• 2017 Abertoir International Horror Festival Q&A with Sergio Martino
• Italian and English theatrical trailers
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Adam Rabalais
• Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Adrian Smith and Howard Hughes

• The English audio track on the original, longer cut has some portions of English audio missing. English audio for these sections was either never recorded or has been lost. As such, these sequences are presented with Italian audio, subtitled in English.

Arrow Video’s Torso Blu-ray will be released in the United States on October 30, 2018.

‘A love stranger than King Kong’

Schlock – aka The Banana Monster – is a 1971 American comedy horror feature film, written, directed by and starring John Landis (Burke & Hare; Innocent Blood; Michael Jackson’s Thriller; An American Werewolf in London). It was one of Rick Baker’s first makeup jobs.

The $60,000 movie was released in March 1973 by Jack H. Harris Enterprises (Equinox; The Blob and sequel).

Schlock will be released on Blu-ray on October 16, 2018, via Arrow Video. It has been restored in 4K from the original camera negative and features the original lossless mono soundtrack. Read further down for details.

Schlockthropus is a prehistoric apeman who falls in love with a teenage blind beauty and terrorises her Southern California suburb. Schlock is no ordinary simian as he possesses some very unusual skills. Among other things, he plays the piano and gives TV interviews…

Reviews:

“The jokes essentially stop coming about 20 minutes into the 80-minute Banana Monster, giving the last hour or so a palpable we’re-making-this-shit-up-as-we-go-along vibe, but anyone looking for nothing more than a film in which John Landis runs around in a monkey suit for 80 minutes won’t likely be disappointed.” Nathan Rabin, AV Club

“There are also some fun ideas (I love the TV newsman who hosts a “guess the body count” contest), and its heart is certainly in the right place. On the down side, the movie is unfocused; it has the bare minimum of a plot, and many of the scenes feel like random events placed in a random order.” Dave Sindelar, Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings

“When the humor lands, this movie can be hilarious, but in those slower sections, Schlock drags on and that grinds the fun to a halt. I think there’s more good than bad here though, with a lot of fun nods to classic b movies and such an offbeat, unpredictable atmosphere, so for me, this one is easily recommended.” Marc Fusion

“the energy and the creativity on display make this work, and credit where it’s due, that monkey suit is really nicely done (it’s no surprise that Baker went on to become one of the best in the effects business). This isn’t Landis’ best movie, nor his funniest, but for a first effort it’s pretty damned entertaining.” Ian Jane, Rock! Shock! Pop!

” …this writer found himself staring at the clock on multiple occasions. This film immediately gained a cult following when released in 1973, and seems to bare its fair share of fans to this day. It was far too unfunny, foolish, and uninterestingly to gain much praise from myself.” Chris Mayo, Severed Cinema

Cast and characters:

• John Landis … Schlock
• Saul Kahan … Detective Sgt. Wino
• Joseph Piantadosi … Ivan
• Richard Gillis … Officer Gillis
• Tom Alvich … Torn Cop
• Walter Levine … Police Thief
• Eric Allison … Joe Putzman
• Ralph Baker … Dying Man
• Gene Fox … Billy
• Susan Weiser-Finley … Betty
• Jonathan A. Flint … Bobby
• Amy Schireson … Barbara
• Belinda Folsey … Goria
• Emile Hamaty … Professor Shlibovitz
• Harriet Medin [credited as Enrica Blankey] … Mrs. Blinerman

Release:

Schlock will be released on Blu-ray on October 16, 2018, via Arrow Video. It has been restored in 4K from the original camera negative and features the original lossless mono soundtrack.

Graham Humphreys designed the new cover art, while the original poster will be on the reverse side.

• Audio commentary with writer-director John Landis and makeup artist Rick Baker
• Interview with author and critic Kim Newman
• Birth of a Schlock – 2017 interivew with writer-director John Landis
• Archival video interview with cinematographer Bob Collins
• 1972, 1979 and 1982 theatrical trailers
• Radio spots
• Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Joe Bob Briggs (first pressing only)

Related:

Going Ape! – A Short History of Who’s Inside the Gorilla Suit – article

Trog – UK, 1970

Konga – UK, 1961

Join the Fun!… Human Dart Boards…. “Home Style Brain Surgery”… Dental Hijinks!

Blood Sucking Freaks is a 1976 American dark comedy horror feature film written and directed by Joel M. Reed (Night of the Zombies; Blood Bath). It is loosely based on Herschell Gordon Lewis’ The Wizard of Gore. The movie stars Seamus O’Brien, Viju Krem, Niles McMaster and Dan Fauci.

Shot as Sardu: Master of the Screaming Virgins, the film was titled The Incredible Torture Show for its original brief US theatrical run.

In 1981, Troma Entertainment acquired the distribution rights and retitled the film Blood Sucking Freaks (Bloodsucking Freaks on publicity material). The film would go on to achieve minor cult-classic status due to its ability to slip between being a serious horror film with sexual overtones and a campy send-up of gore films.

In September 2017, John Szpunar’s book, Blood Sucking Freak! The Life and Films of the Incredible Joel M. Reed, was published in the UK by Headpress.

Buy: Amazon.co.uk

A horror-themed theatre is run by Master Sardu and his midget assistant, Ralphus. In keeping with the Grand Guignol-style, the theatre puts on grotesque shows about torture and murder.

What neither the audiences nor the critics know is that the shows are not staged but real. Moreover, the women that appear to be tortured, dismembered and even killed during the performances, are not actresses but kidnapped victims who are made into slaves…

Buy uncut on 88 Films Blu-ray | DVD – Amazon.co.uk

• All Region Codes
• Limited Edition Slipcase
• Audio Commentary by Hostel Director Eli Roth
• Introduction by Lloyd Kaufman
• Original Trailer
• Tour of Troma & Interviews with Three Cast and Crew Members
• Booklet Notes by Calum Waddell
• Aroma du Troma
Radiation March
Two Troma public service announcements
Lloyd Kaufman’s Autobiography Promo Video
Reversible Sleeve Incorporating Original Artwork

Review of 88 Films Blu-ray:

Joel M. Reed shot this perversely dark ‘comedy’ on 16mm so its presentation on Blu-ray was always going to reveal the grain of the source material. However, British company 88 Films have done a sterling transfer job and there is no doubt that sick flick Blood Sucking Freaks has never looked this good.

A slew of extras from Troma’s 2014 Blu-ray + DVD combo are included, plus an audio commentary by director and fan Eli Roth (Cabin Fever, Hostel, The Green Inferno) and interviews with three members of the cast and crew.

The package is rounded off with a limited edition slipcase that houses a reversible sleeve featuring appropriately tacky newly commissioned artwork and the film’s original poster as The Incredible Torture Show.

Joel M. Reed was clearly courting controversy with this deliberately over-the-top movie – sucking brains out with a straw, indeed! – and those moralistic critics that believe its gleefully sexist tone is a reflection of serious misogyny should perhaps consider it in the same vein of deeply dark humour that makes Flesh for Frankenstein such a delight. The movie questions its own audience’s lust for blood, acts as an observation on the seedy side of ’70s New York and is clearly designed as an offensive wind-up.

What’s odd is that Reed’s PG-rated horror anthology Blood Bath, also lensed in 1976, and his Night of the Zombies (1981), are both dull and anaemic, so clearly knowing nastiness wasn’t his sole forte. Perhaps he just got out of bed the wrong side when he penned this one?

Adrian J Smith, HORRORPEDIA

Other reviews:

“Blood Sucking Freaks will make you feel dirty, and you will love every minute of it. That’s the wonder of this movie. And there can be no question whether the filmmakers realized what they were doing– they most assuredly did.” 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting

“If you’re the sort to pick apart a film based on technical aptitude, this is not going to be your cup of tea. Indeed, the performances in this are absolutely dreadful save for Seamus O’Brien who plays Sardu and spends most of his screen time flouncing about like some kind of deviant Vincent Price. O’Brien is an absolute joy to watch in this, delivering his lines with such conviction one wonders if he’s even acting at all.” The Church of Splatter-Day Saints

“If anything makes it tolerable, it is that it is presented as comedy rather than tragedy. Unfortunately, it falls flat far more than it amuses. One could complain about the misogyny of it all. Or its willingness to offend everyone possible. Or even the vibrant, sardonic performances of the principals. But that is giving the film more credit than it deserves” Rob Wrigley, Classic Horror

“When people use the term ‘bottom of the barrel’, they often forget about the UNDERSIDE of the barrel, which is where poorly-made dreck like this belongs. It offers absolutely NOTHING in the way of entertainment, and I think you’re a cruel little nutcase if you talk someone else into seeing it,” also calling it “The nastiest, filthiest and just about WORST thing you will EVER SEE” Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com

“It should be noted that Blood Sucking Freaks is, at its heart, a fairly broad black comedy. It pokes fun at its audience’s love of violence, the corruption and filth of 70s New York, and the theatrical scene in general (particularly in Sardu’s wish to be taken seriously as an artist) … Even particularly vile lines (such as the classic “Her mouth will make an interesting urinal.”) carry with them an exaggerated sense of outrageousness.” Movie Feast

Buy Troma Blu-ray + DVD:  Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

“Freaks trots out about every demented and reprehensible act known to man and presents them as some sort of blood soaked live action cartoon. None of the women wear clothes and those that do, don’t keep them on very long and scenes of torture most often mix with the nudity. Quite possibly the single most misogynistic movie ever made….” Brian Bankston, Cool Ass Cinema

Cast and characters:

• Seamus O’Brien … Sardu
• Viju Krem … Natasha Di Natalie
• Niles McMaster ..Tom Maverick – Alice, Sweet Alice 
• Dan Fauci .. Sergeant Tucci
• Alan Dellay … Creasy Silo
• Ernie Pysher … Doctor
• Luis De Jesus … Ralphus
• Alphonso DeNoble … White Slaver

Trivia:

Lead actor Seamus O’Brien was stabbed to death when trying to hold a burglar at his apartment on May 14, 1977.

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‘Will haunt you!’

Ghost Story is a 1974 British horror feature film directed and co-produced by Stephen Weeks (I, Monster) from a screenplay co-written with Rosemary Sutcliff and Philip Norman. The movie stars Marianne Faithfull, Leigh Lawson, Larry Dann and Anthony Bate.

In the 1930s, McFadden (Murray Melvin), invites two ex-university acquaintances Talbot (Larry Dann) and Duller (Vivian MacKerrell) to his family’s country house, for a weekend of game hunting.

As soon as they arrive, personality clashes, petty arguments and gloomy environment start on wear on the trio’s nerves. Worse still, McFadden neglects to mention that the place might be haunted…

Reviews:

“The film is slightly let down by the basic lighting and camerawork, and some clumsy comedy at the expense of sensitive twit, Talbot (Larry Dann). But the slack opening builds slowly and steadily as the parallel stories develop, and it’s cleverly unclear as to where reality starts and second-sight begins.” Black Hole

“This is like a vintage P.G. Wodehouse story as it might have been ghosted by Edgar Allan Poe” Marjorie Billbow, Cinema Today

” …Ron Geesin’s experimental score adds to the off-kilter atmosphere. Although the film’s cult appeal is due to the presence of Marianne Faithful, the performances are excellent all around […] Deliberately paced and understated, Ghost Story will prove rewarding to patient and attentive viewers.” Eric Cotenas, DVD Beaver

” …among several memorable set-pieces is a nightmarish scene of asylum inmates wresting control from their oppressive overseers, Anthony Bate and Barbara Shelley. Sadly, the spell-stopped mood occasionally slips over into passages of slackly edited tedium…” Jonathan Rigby, English Gothic, 2015

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca

” …there is a quality of the light and cinematography which gives the film a truly unique, nostalgic feel. Barring some questionable scenes at an asylum, which fall victim to histrionics, not helped by the quite awful prog rock influenced soundtrack, and the recurring problem of sluggish pacing, proceedings do get considerably more atmospheric.” James Benefield, Eye for Film

“There are scenes which scared the living daylights out of me… it is compelling and often very scary” Graham Jones, The Guardian

“While the pacing may be on the slow side, the film is certainly not short on atmosphere. Aside from the locations, the cinematography and lighting ensure that we see just enough of what we need to in order to get our skin crawling.” Ian Jane, Rock! Shock! Pop!

“The scenes during which the inmates break loose have a genuine sense of dementia to them, and this story would have made a pretty arresting short film. Sadly, these scenes appear as too-brief interludes during the mind-numbing antics of the three main protagonists.” David Flint, Ten Years of Terror, FAB Press

“Director Weeks does a beautiful job evoking the time period in this effectively spooky and atmospheric film, and there are several fine performances, but some viewers may find the movie rather slow moving.” TV Guide

” …the film suffers from unexceptional special effects and a fatal sense of dislocation as the horrors of incest and madness fail to surface sufficiently centrally as they are relayed through the appearance of a string-pulled doll.” Phil Hardy (editor), The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror

Cast and characters:

• Anthony Bate … Doctor Borden – Beasts TV series
• Larry Dann – Talbot – Tales of Unease TV series; The Body Stealers
• Marianne Faithfull – Sophy Kwykwer – The Turn of the Screw (1992, narrator)
• Sally Grace – Girl
• Penelope Keith – Rennie – The Hound of the Baskervilles (1978)
• Leigh Lawson – Robert – Hammer House of Horror TV series
• Vivian MacKerrell – Duller
• Murray Melvin – McFayden – The Phantom of the Opera (2004); The Devils
• Barbara Shelley – Matron – Dracula: Prince of Darkness; Rasputin – the Mad Monk; The Gorgon; Cat Girl; et al

Running time:

87 minutes

Filming locations:

Despite being set in England, the film was shot mainly on location in India, much of it at Bangalore Palace, in Tamil Nadu.

Release:

In the USA, the film was released on VHS by Comet Video retitled Madhouse Mansion.

In the UK, Ghost Story was released on DVD as a 2-disc set by Nucleus Films on 18 November 2009.

Disc 1:

• Widescreen (1.85:1) Presentation Enhanced for Widescreen TVs
• English 2.0 Mono
• Audio Commentary with Director Stephen Weeks, Moderated by Professor Samuel Umland
• Theatrical Trailer
• Optional English Subtitles

Disc 2:

• Ghost Stories – an all-new 72 minute featurette including interviews with Director/Producer Stephen Weeks, Actors Larry Dann and Murray Melvin, British Horror Icon Barbara Shelley and composer (and Pink Floyd collaborator) Ron Geesin, with comments from critic Kim Newman.
• Alternate opening credits sequence
• Stephen Weeks’ The Making of Ghost Story
• Stephen Weeks’ My Early Films (.pdf)
• Terror, Tweed & Tiffin Essay by Darius Drewe Shimon
• Original Press Book
• The Chelsea Cobbler store commercial

And these previously unseen Stephen Weeks short films:

• Owen’s War (1965 / B+W / 10m)
• Deserted Station (1965 / B+W / 7m)
• The Camp (1965 / B+W / 4m)
• Moods of a Victorian Church (1967 / Colour / 9m)
• Two At Thursday (1968 / B+W / 10m)
• 1917 (1968 / Colour / 35m) – the lost Tigon film
• Flesh (1969 / Colour / 3m)

Trivia:

Weeks apparently conceived the plot in 1969 with the intended title Asylum.

In a 2017 interview for “The Bill Podcast”, actor Larry Dann alleged that he has never been paid for his work on the film.

Wikipedia | Image credits: VHS Collector

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‘The night He came home! In 4K Ultra-HD…

John Carpenter’s original 1978 Halloween will be released in the USA by Lionsgate on 4K Ultra HD, plus Blu-ray, on September 25, 2018.

Fans will be able to re-experience the slasher classic via its highest definition home video release prior to Michal Myers stalking back in movie theaters in David Gordon Green’s hugely anticipated new take on Halloween, released on October 19, 2018.

Details of the disc’s special features to follow…

Zombie, or Zombie Flesh Eaters as we prefer to refer to it, is being unleashed by Blue Underground as a 3-disc limited edition that includes two Blu-ray discs and a CD soundtrack on November 27, 2018.

The release comes with a choice of 3D Lenticular Slipcover featuring 3 different iconic scenes from Lucio Fulci’s gore classic.

“World premiere of brand-new 4K restoration from the uncensored original camera negative, Limited Collector’s Edition includes 1080p Feature on Blu-ray, bonus High Def Extras Blu-ray, Soundtrack CD, collectible booklet, reversible sleeve with original US poster artwork (pictured below), and special 3D lenticular slipcover (first pressing only).

Bursting at the seams with hours of new and archival extras:

Disc 1 (Blu-ray):

•  New! Audio Commentary #1 with Troy Howarth, Author of Splintered Visions: Lucio Fulci and His Films
• Audio Commentary #2 with Star Ian McCulloch and Diabolik Magazine Editor Jason J. Slater
• New! When The Earth Spits Out The Dead – Interview with Stephen Thrower, Author of Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci
• Theatrical Trailers
• TV Spots
• Radio Spots
• Poster and Still Gallery
• Guillermo del Toro Intro

Disc 2 (Blu-ray):

• Zombie Wasteland – Interviews with Stars Ian McCulloch, Richard Johnson & Al Cliver, and Actor/Stuntman Ottaviano Dell’Acqua
• Flesh Eaters on Film – Interview with Co-Producer Fabrizio De Angelis
• Deadtime Stories – Interviews with Co-Writers Elisa Briganti and (Uncredited) Dardano Sacchetti
• World of the Dead – Interviews with Cinematographer Sergio Salvati and Production and Costume Designer Walter Patriarca
• Zombi Italiano – Interviews with Special Make-Up Effects Artists Gianetto De Rossi & Maurizio Trani and Special Effects Artist Gino De Rossi
• Notes on a Headstone – Interview with Composer Fabio Frizzi
• All in the Family – Interview with Antonella Fulci
• Zombie Lover – Award-Winning Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro talks about one of his favorite films

Disc 3 (CD):

• Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Fabio Frizzi

Bonus Collectable Booklet with new essay by Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci author and HORRORPEDIA contributor Stephen Thrower

Specs:

• Video: Widescreen 2.40:1
• Audio: English 7.1 DTS-HD; English 1.0 DTS-HD; Italian 7.1 DTS-HD; Italian 1.0 DTS-HD
• Optional Subtitles: English SDH, Français, Español, Português, Deutsch, Italiano, Dansk, Suomi, Nederlands, Svenska, Russian, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, English for Italian Audio
• All Regions”

‘Being terrified is just the beginning…’

Shivers is a 1975 Canadian science fiction body horror feature film written and directed by David Cronenberg (Dead Ringers; The Fly; Videodrome; Rabid). It stars Barbara Steele, Paul Hampton, Joe Silver and Lynn Lowry.

The movie was filmed as Orgy of the Blood Parasites; and has also been released as The Parasite Murders, They Came from Within, and, for its French Canadian distribution, Frissons.

The cheap yet highly effective monster and makeup effects were created by Joe Blasco.

A young couple are welcomed as residents to an exclusive Starliner Towers on Nuns’ Island. Meanwhile, Dr. Hobbes is seen murdering his adolescent prostitute mistress by strangling her, then cutting open her stomach and pouring acid into her body to kill the parasites, before committing suicide by slashing his own throat.

Partway into the story, the audience learn the reason for Hobbes’s actions; most of Shivers consists of social set piece tableaux depicting the promiscuous relationships that spread the parasites to the other residents…

Buy Blu-ray + DVD or Steelbook from Amazon.co.uk

• New High Definition Digital Transfer supervised and approved by writer-director David Cronenberg
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation
• Original mono audio (uncompressed PCM on the Blu-ray)
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Parasite Memories: The Making of Shivers – A brand new documentary featuring interviews with stars Barbara Steele, Allan Kolman and Lynn Lowry, special effects genius Joe Blasco and film critic Kier-La Janisse
• On Screen! – An episode of the Canadian television programme which documents the release history of Shivers, featuring interviews with Cronenberg, co-producer Don Carmody, as well as other cast and crew
• From Stereo to Video – A specially-commissioned video essay by Caelum Vatnsdal, author of They Came from Within: A History of Canadian Horror Cinema, charting Cronenberg’s career from his experimental beginnings through to Videodrome, his first major studio picture
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Nat Marsh
• Collector’s Booklet featuring new writing on the film by Paul Corupe, creator of the Canuxploitation website, reprinted excerpts of Cronenberg on Cronenberg and more, illustrated with original archive stills and posters

“Cronenberg began to market a feature script called Orgy of the Blood Parasites in order to break into big time movie-making. He eventually hooked up with John Dunning and Andre Link at Cinepix in Montreal, and after holding off for three years, the Canadian Film Development Corporation decided to take a chance on the neophyte director. With Ivan Reitman (fresh off Cannibal Girls) as producer and a $100,000 budget, the film, now retitled The Parasite Murders (and eventually Shivers), was finally brought to fruition.

Then the shit hit the fan. Robert Fulford, writing under the alias of Marshall Delaney, absolutely savaged the film in his Saturday Night magazine review:

“(The film) is a disgrace to everyone connected with it including the taxpayers,” he ranted. “It’s as if the Canada Council, wildly casting for a way to get Canadian writers working, were to invest in sadistic p*rnography.” Canuxploitation.com

Buy They Came from Within: A History of Canadian Horror Cinema book from:

Amazon.ca | Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

” …as a film it’s an integral part of David Cronenberg’s filmography and although it is crudely put together it makes for a more interesting and entertaining film than Romero’s The Crazies – which toys with some similarly uncomfortable themes – or Rabid, Cronenberg’s follow-up film. A flawed but impressive debut that still manages to make you feel slightly grubby nearly 40 years later.” Chris Ward, Ancient Slumber

“These creatures don’t care about Body Snatching. It’s the mind they snatch, out of the superficial shell of social constrains that imprisons Starliner’s tenants. Once all that pesky “sexual assault” business is out of the way, is the New Parasitic World Order really so bad? All ages, classes, races, and creeds seem united behind screwing each other’s brains out as never before in human history.” David DeMoss, And You Thought It Was… Safe (?)

“The movie is rather cheaply made, but Cronenberg does an effective job with what he has. The little slugs that somehow can jump, sometimes burn, and latch on to their victims resemble the monsters in later films like Slither (which borrows a few scenes from here) and Night of the Creeps… it would have been interesting how the filmed would have looked with a bigger budget, but its low-cost also amplifies the horror.” JP Roscoe, Basement Rejects

“Predominantly shot from low wide angles, the camera barely moves and the editing and framing are simple and unobtrusive. This creates an almost documentary look to the film, further heightening its sense of realism. As the blood and parasite flesh begins to violate the ordered frame of Cronenberg’s camera, the audience cannot help but feel they are witnessing actual events.” Cinema Autopsy

“Some people have taken the film too seriously, comparing it to Night of the Living Dead and Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but Cronenberg, a former experimental/underground filmmaker is having his own weird joke at the genre’s expense. They Came from Within sends up the traditions of old sf/horror films and as such is good clean fun.” John Brosnan, Future Tense: The Cinema of Science Fiction, St. Martin’s Press, 1978

“Drawing on his own fascinations, fixations and fears on the dangerous link between desire and disease, society as a colossal bureaucracy, and his country’s historical medical atrocities, Cronenberg created a ground-breaking sci-fi that remains both chilling and compelling, a fascinating, frightening new take on the old mad scientist character, and the film that set the blueprint for the director’s dark delving into body horror in his latter work…” Peter Fuller, Kultguy’s Keep

“There is the tendency among critics to read Shivers in terms of the complex metaphors about sex and the fusion of flesh and science that developed markedly throughout David Cronenberg’s later films. It is perhaps a mistake to over-analyse Shivers in this sense as it is intended as no more than a good solid horror movie. Certainly, Shivers is a gleeful dive into taboo breaking upon Cronenberg’s part…” Richard Scheib, Moria

“Interestingly because Shivers came early on in Cronenberg’s career and because this didn’t have a big budget it has acting which isn’t that great. It also doesn’t have fleshed out characters with many just there to be victims. As such when the movie is over you find yourself forgetting who was in it and who the characters were but know you want to watch it again.” Andy Webb, The Movie Scene

“It’s apparent that someone connected with They Came From Within has an impertinent sense of humor even though the film is so tackily written and directed, so darkly photographed and the sound so dimly recorded, that it’s difficult to stay with it.” Vincent Canby, The New York Times, July 7, 1976

“Horror movies by their very nature should be horrible, and Shivers certainly is. A combination of confrontational images, cinematic artistry, black humour and low-budget invention is a winning one. Shivers is an intelligent horror film that made me sit up and think “Wow”, this guy is really going for the jugular!” John Costello, The Pocket Essential: David Cronenberg, 2000

“Despite the low budget and some amateurish acting, Cronenberg (who also wrote the screenplay) succeeds in creating a stinging rebuke to the swinging 70s. The film is helped immensely by Joe Blasco’s wondrously repulsive make-up effects. One can’t help but notice (as Cronenberg himself has pointed out), there are more than a few similarities between this and Alien.” The Terror Trap

“Cronenberg’s brand of body horror isn’t to everyone’s taste, but to call him a reactionary anti-sensualist who metes out grotesque punishment for sins of the flesh — as detractors have — is to miss the point. His beat is the underbelly of the mind-body schism, and illness as metaphor is his stock in trade. It’s no great leap to make the argument that a libido-liberating sex parasite is just what the residents of Starliner Towers need to shake them out of their prefab anomie.” TV Guide

” …questions were asked as to whether or not the Canadian government should be helping to fund such ‘trash’. Completely missing the films core points about repression and the lack of intimacy within modern communities, these critics would also miss the films streak of jet black humour. Cronenberg is often viewed as an overtly serious film maker but many of his films are laced with a wicked sense of humour that underline the darker principles at work.” Stuart Smith, UK Horror Scene

“Cronenberg’s first proper feature film is a now notorious classic in his repertoire, covering many of the themes of later horror movies: Body-horror, psycho-sexual perversion, some social commentary, bizarre special-effects and dark obsessions […] Gritty, raw, disturbing and strange, but simple, and with a only a thin plot backing up the sex-body-horror.” The Worldwide Celluloid Massacre

Choice dialogue:

“Even old flesh is erotic flesh!”

Cast and characters:

• Paul Hampton … Roger St. Luc
• Joe Silver … Rollo Linsky
• Lynn Lowry … Nurse Forsythe
• Allan Kolman … Nicholas Tudor (as Alan Migicovsky)
• Susan Petrie … Janine Tudor
• Barbara Steele … Betts
• Ronald Mlodzik … Merrick
• Barry Baldaro … Detective Heller (as Barry Boldero)
• Camil Ducharme … Mr. Guilbault (as Camille Ducharme)
• Hanna Poznanska … Mrs. Guilbault (as Hanka Posnanska)
• Wally Martin … Doorman
• Vlasta Vrana … Kresimer Sviben
• Silvie Debois … Benda Sviben
• Charles Perley … Delivery Boy
• Al Rochman … Parkins

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‘They planted the living and harvested the dead!’

Invasion of the Blood Farmers is a 1972 American horror feature film produced and directed by Ed Adlum from a screenplay co-written with Ed Kelleher (also associate director). It was edited by Michael Findlay (Flesh trilogy; Snuff). The latter directed Shriek of the Mutilated, which was also penned by Adlum and Kelleher.

Although it contains some gore scenes, the film was rated ‘PG’ by the MPAA. The soundtrack is composed of library music and the narrator does an obvious impression of British actor James Mason.

In the 1980s, filmmaker Fred Olen Ray (Super Shark; Evil Toons; Scalps) picked up the video rights and still distributes the movie via his Retromedia label.

Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com | Amazon.ca

The movie stars Norman Kelley, Tanna Hunter, Bruce Detrick, Jack Neubeck and Paul Craig Jennings.

A group of druids living in Westchester County, New York, plan to resurrect their queen by draining the blood from unsuspecting civilians into her body…

Reviews:

“Although the film’s general idea has promise, its clumsy script, wooden acting, and cheap, unrealistic special effects make it the equivalent of a low-grade college film project. It is too poor in quality to be convincing, and thus lacks the frights necessary for a true horror film, while at the same time, it takes itself too seriously to succeed as camp.” DVD-B.com

“The acting is nonexistent, the gore effects are lame (although pretty explicit for PG), the soundtrack consists of over-baked stock music, and the editing (by Shriek director Michael Findlay) is so clumsy that at times you can notice actors waiting for their cue! In other words, a classic drive-in epic of the trashiest proportions.” George R. Reis, DVD Drive-In

“Do you like your movies full of fakey English accents? Are you sick and tired of relevant dialogue? Do you want to see cutting edge continuity errors confusing night and day? Do you love incoherence, sloppiness, screaming, blood, unnecessarily melodramatic music, awkward, interrupted sex scenes? …I can tell you, maybe, just maybe, you will have the stomach for Invasion of the Blood Farmers.” Ross Peterson, Horror News

“It’s got ridiculous plotting, clunky pacing, awkward acting, canned music, you name it. It also has a sense of humour about itself and a sincere attempt to entertain the viewer. Odd and shaofting camera angles are surprisingly effective … Despite slow stretches, a weak climax, and some missed opportunities to feature more of the farmers, it’s great for camp. The dialogue is lively, sometimes funny on purpose.” David Elroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers

Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com | Amazon.ca

“Some sequences in particular, such as an extended bloodletting ritual by masked farmers in a barn, foreshadow the later (and obviously far superior) The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and while the intensity level is kept at bay by numerous unintentional chuckles (check out the shoe polish hairdos) and gaping plot inconsistencies, there’s enough going on to keep fans of Z-grade trash busy munching on their popcorn.” Nathaniel Thompson, Mondo Digital

“This is acknowledged as one of the great classics of schlock cinema … The Farmers was lauded by exploitation experts for its amateur acting, neanderthal direction, and phony gore effects. Everyone agreed that the exaggerated, sickening sound effects that blared on the soundtrack whenever the bodily fluid was pumped out of the victims was worth its weight in fool’s gold.” Richard Meyers, For One Week Only: The World of Exploitation Films

Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com | Amazon.ca

“… this movie is ninety blissful minutes of complete nonsense … Full of bizarre and completely random cuts to reactions that aren’t there on the part of the cast and close ups that aren’t ever necessary, the movie looks as erratically as it plays – at least the filmmakers were consistent in their ineptitude.” Ian Jane, Rock! Shock! Pop!

Interviewed for Regional Horror Films, 1958 – 1990, director/co-writer Ed Adlum had this to say:

“It’s interesting that that picture is kind of like a cult thing today. I certainly didn’t start out to make a cult thing. You can’t create camp. That one worked. It was so bad it’s funny. It’s like Plan 9. It’s one of those great, bad pictures. Shriek of the Mutilated is one of those bad bad pictures. It should be burned. But the Blood Farmers is a monument to ineptitude, and I love to watch it.”

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca

“The action is dully directed, the plot is rambling, the dialogue seems indifferently slung together and much of the film has a vagueness as though it had been improvised. The film’s cheapness frequently shows through – Tanna Hunter gets up in her nightgown and at least three times is told that she should go to bed despite the fact that the scenes are clearly being shot during the daytime…” Richard Scheib, Moria

Choice dialogue:

“You’re just a pushover for pathologists.”

Cast and characters:

• Norman Kelley … Dr. Roy Anderson
• Tanna Hunter … Jenny Anderson
• Bruce Detrick … Don Tucker
• Paul Craig Jennings … Creton
• Jack Neubeck … Egon
• Richard Erickson … Sontag
• Cynthia Fleming … Queen Onhorrid
• Tom Edwards
• Lucy Grant … Mrs. Greenman
• Frank Iovieno … Police Chief Frank Spano
• Warren D’Oyly-Rhind … OgmarHORRORPEDIA on social media: Facebook | Google+ | Pinterest | Tumblr | Twitter

Shriek of the Mutilated – USA, 1974

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‘Who hasn’t played with real dolls at some time or other?’

Miss Leslie’s Dolls is a 1973 American horror thriller feature film directed by Joseph G. Prieto (second unit director on Mexican pic The Beasts of Terror) from a screenplay co-written with Ralph Remy Jr. The movie stars Salvador Ugarte, Terri Juston and Marcelle Bichette.

Alma Frost, a beautiful university teacher and three of her students, Martha, Lily and Roy, are stranded in a backwoods area in the midst of a big thunderstorm. Forced to abandon their automobile in a cemetery they seek refuge in an old lonely house in the woods, where they meet with Miss Leslie, a kind, affable and middle-aged woman who lives in the house.

They’ll soon find out that Miss Leslie is a dangerous maniac obsessed with the thought of liberating her spirit from her ageing body, so that she – the spirit – may take possession of the healthy and wholesome body of a young girl, to make it her own and enjoy with it the pleasures of life and love.

With this mania in mind Miss Leslie has caused the death of several girls whom she has embalmed, keeping them in a sort of chapel-like chamber and calling them her “dolls”…

Buy: Amazon.co.uk

Reviews:

“Like a trash culture collage, all these little – ahem – ‘homages’ add to its demented charm. Which is just as well because, truth be told, there’s really very little that’s original in this mess-terpiece. They’d been making this sort of story since the thirties at least. And, for the first couple of reels, it’s as leadenly staged as anything from Monogram at their most threadbare. But stick with it because it has one overwhelmingly redeeming quality – Salvador Ugarte!” Film4Q

“There is corny dialogue to laugh at, an unbelievable acceptance of the goings on by the youngsters but a sinister tone is established and when the dolls appear we know we are watching something, just that little bit different. Great fun and after that slow start very enjoyable.” Christopher Underwood

Cast and characters:

• Salvador Ugarte … Miss Leslie
• Terri Juston … Miss Alma Frost
• Marcelle Bichette … Lily
• Kitty Lewis … Martha
• Charles Pitts … Roy Sanders – Supervixens

Release:

Presumed lost, a print was found and shown at the British Film Institute in London on September 30, 2009.

Network is releasing Miss Leslie’s Dolls on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK on September 3, 2018.

Image credits: Temple of Schlock

The post Miss Leslie’s Dolls – USA, 1973 appeared first on HORRORPEDIA.

‘All they wanted was fun… what they got was terror… mayhem… murder!

Savage Weekend is a 1976 American slasher horror feature film written, produced and directed by David Paulsen as The Upstate Murders and initially marketed as Killer Behind the Mask. The film features a repeated anti-Evangelical Christian theme. It was belatedly released in 1979 by Cannon Films.

The movie stars Christopher Allport, Jim Doerr, David Gale and Devin Goldenberg.

Dov Seltzer provided the soundtrack score for this film, plus Night Terrors and The Mummy Lives.

Two rich stockbrokers and their partners, plus their camp gay friend, leave New York City and head upstate to the country to watch a boat being built. Unfortunately for them, they are stalked by a psychotic murderer wearing a ghoulish mask…

Release:

On September 29, 2015, Savage Weekend was released on Blu-ray in the US by Kino Lorber with a brand-new HD transfer. Blu-ray, packaging, and extras are all produced by Walt Olsen (Scorpion Releasing).

Special Features:

• On camera interview with star William Sanderson
• On camera interview with star Caitlin O’Heaney
• On camera interview with star Jeff Pomeranz
• Original Theatrical Trailer

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Reviews:

“The chief problem is everything being lazy from the drag-ass editing, absent acting, and a story that could have been condensed into fifteen minutes or less that still wouldn’t have quite made sense […] One couldn’t care less about the yuppie meatbags as they bounce into each other trying to provoke inane intrigue.” Basement of Ghoulish Decadence

“With its upstate setting, neurotic New Yorkers and kinky bed-hopping antics, the first two thirds of the narrative plays as a sexploitation melodrama similar to an Andy Milligan film such as Seeds of Sin or The Ghastly Ones (aka Blood Rites) … On the other hand, the final third of the film predates the ‘slasher’ movie formula with a masked killer dispatching a group of people in a rural setting using a variety of makeshift weapons … ” Hysteria Lives

“The horror elements are in place and well accounted for, including a few gritty sets and somewhat effective cinematography (Gus Van Sant with no talent, maybe?). Unfortunately, it takes an hour of wading through dreary nonsense, bad continuity, and a truly hideous score to get there. Not to mention the copious amounts of awkward sexual situations.” Bleeding Skull

“Most of the actual blood and gore happens away from the camera, a detail that will most assuredly frustrate those desperate for a little crimson output, especially in the face of the sexual itinerary they’ve been forced to endure up to that point. Granted, a gimmick involving bad wiring, a light bulb and a woman tied to a table saw, is far more clever than it should be — and will probably garner a chuckle or two from even the most jaded of horror fan.” Cranked on Cinema

“Savage Weekend is incoherent, illiterate and inept. It’s a shoestring show with bad sound, which is ironic, considering the regular appearances played by microphones.” Ed Blank, Pittsburgh Press, January 20, 1981

Buy: Amazon.co.uk

“The most important aspect about Savage Weekend is the fact that it was shot in 1976, two years before Halloween, and therefore is an important precursor to the slasher boom. Sadly, everything else about the film is amateurish, boring and predictable.” Jim Harper, Legacy of Blood: A Comprehensive Guide to Slasher Movies, Critical Vision, 2004

Cast and characters:

• Christopher Allport as Nicky – Jack Frost and its sequel
• Jim Doerr as Robert Fathwood
• David Gale as Mac Macauley – Re-Animator; The Brain; Pulse Pounders
• Devin Goldenberg as Jay Alsop – The Last Horror Film
• Marilyn Hamlin as Marie Sales Pettis
• Caitlin O’Heaney as Shirley Sales – He Knows You’re Alone; Wolfen; Late Phases
• Jeff Pomerantz as Greg Pettis – Retribution
• William Sanderson as Otis – Mirror, Mirror; Sometimes They Come Back; Stageghost
• Yancy Butler as Little Girl – Lake Placid vs. Anaconda; Rage of the Yeti
• Adam Hirsch as Jeremy Pettis
• Don Plumley as Pool Player
• Ben Simon as Lumberman
• Geraldine Chapin as Woman at Bar
• Rae Chapin as Lumberman
• Claude Dickison as Waitress at Bar
• Robert T. Henderson as Bartender

Filming locations:

Hudson River Valley, New York, USA

Promotion:

Despite title changes, the international promotional images for this film had a familiar look:

Image courtesy of Basement of Ghoulish Decadence

The post Savage Weekend – USA, 1976 appeared first on HORRORPEDIA.

‘What a horrible way to die!’

Rattlers is a 1976 American horror feature film produced and directed by John McCauley (Deadly Intruder) from a screenplay co-written with Jerry Golding. The movie stars Sam Chew, Elisabeth Chauvet, Tony Ballen, Dan Priest, Ron Gold, Darwin Joston, and Gary Van Ormand.

Harry Novak, head of Boxoffice International Pictures, was the executive producer.

Rattlers was one of many 1970s ‘animals attack’ ecological-themed horror movies, such as Frogs, Squirm, Empire of the Ants and Piranha.

When two young boys are savagely attacked and killed by a legion of rattlesnakes in the Californian desert, the local sheriff (Tony Ballen) calls upon herpetologist Doctor Tom Parkinson (Sam Chew), a Los Angeles college professor, to discover why the snakes are displaying abnormal aggression and swarming behaviour. The sheriff teams Parkinson with feminist war photographer Ann Bradley (Elisabeth Chauvet).

As more people in the desert town are killed by the abnormally aggressive rattlesnakes, Parkinson’s and Bradley’s investigation leads them to a nearby army base. However, the commanding officer, Colonel Stroud (Dan Priest), becomes evasive when a mysterious mineshaft is mentioned…

Reviews:

“A nice night at the drive-in — laughs, shivers, and groans included. The snake attack scenes induce goosebumps by nature alone, but can’t shake their obvious defects — unconvincing edits, a thin supply of snakes, and out of focus shots. That sets us up for an endless run of healthy bad acting chops and laffs…” Joseph A. Ziemba, Bleeding Skull!

“It was fun enough. It had lots of fun attacks and ridiculous touches like the woman who has to take a bath this very minute […] The movie also features more than its share of supporting actors who come in here and there to deliver unexpectedly genuine performances, and it wraps itself up right on time.” Cinema de Merde

“Some of the snake attacks are scary and will probably make you hate these slithering critters after viewing it, but most of the scenes are sloppily shot, substituting unconvincing Rattler stock footage in some instances. Rattlers is a passable time waster that doesn’t compare to the more fun AIP films of this sort.” George R. Reis, DVD Drive-In

“The plotting of Rattlers is stiffly mechanical, the dialogue ranges from mediocre to substandard, and the characterizations are inconsistent. For every quasi-credible scene, there’s something quite silly. That said, the movie more or less delivers when the time comes for proper suspense scenes…” Every ’70s Movie

” …the acting is merely adequate, the plot is pretty standard but gets weaker as it goes along, and some parts of it are horribly cliched. The scare scenes are only so-so as well. Still, even with this, you get to like the characters enough that it helps you get through it.” Dave Sindelar, Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings

“Although the sheer pleasure of seeing a parade of stupid people get bitten becomes muted by a talk-heavy Act 3 and an abbreviated, anticlimactic ending, these Rattlers aren’t for show — they kick ass.” Rod Lott, Flick Attack

“Between the investigating and bickering we get some rattlesnake attacks on unsuspecting victims. Maybe if you have a great fear of snakes they’ll creep some people out, but for the rest of us they’re average at best. It’s routine stuff – someone looking around, seeing the snakes, screaming, panic, rattler strikes.” Haphazard Stuff

“After about the half way point the movie becomes insanely hilarious from the out of the blue trip to Vegas for an romantic date between the duo, to an solider bursting into a tent filled of snakes and spraying the floor with a machine gun magically not injuring either of the two people inside the tent with his blind barrage of bullets. Although it hasn’t aged well at all it is still a great choice for sharing some laughs with friends and reminiscing about the genre’s early roots.” Ted Brown, The Liberal Dead

“Rattlers could have been much better than it turned out to be. The overabundance of stock footage coupled with profoundly wooden performances combine to sink this one to the bottom. The pointless subplots with the military and the contrived conflict between the leads (he’s a sexist and Bradley is a feminist) really feels out of place in a killer snake movie. I repeat: this is a killer snake movie…show me snakes!” Dennis Gisbeck, Monster Shack

“The snake attack scenes are often crudely filmed and plotted, but if you’re afraid of snakes, you won’t care. Despite what technical flaws they may have, they worked on me and they will probably work on you too.” Oh, the Horror!

Choice dialogue:

Doctor Tom Parkinson “Well let me tell you something young lady. If I had my choice in the matter, you’d be sitting on your liberated ass back in the office in that sheriff’s department…”

Cast and characters:

• Sam Chew Jr. [as Sam Chew] … Doctor Tom Parkinson – Scarab; 10 to Midnight; Time Walker
• Elisabeth Chauvet … Ann Bradley
• Dan Priest … Colonel Stroud – Moon of the Wolf
• Ronald Gold [as Ron Gold]… Captain Delaney – Helter Skelter
• Al Dunlap … General Hinch – Killer’s Delight; Point of Terror
• Dan Balentine … Pilot Hawkins
• Gary Van Orman … Woodley
• Darwin Joston … Palmer – Time Walker; The Fog; Eraserhead; Circle of Fear TV series
• Cary J. Pitts … Sergeant
• Eric Lawson … Guard – King Cobra; Rumpelstiltskin; Skeeter;
• Tony Ballen … Sheriff Gates – Welcome to Arrow Beach; Circle of Fear TV series
• Richard Lockmiller … Deputy – The Aliens Are Coming
• Jo Jordan … Mother – The Last Resort
• Scott McCartor [as Scott McCarter] … Rick
• Tipp McClure … Plumber

Filming locations:

Mojave Desert, California, USA

Running time: 

82 minutes

Double-billed with Bug (1975): “two horrible movies”

Snakes on HORRORPEDIA

Image credits: Retro Charlotte | Wrong Side of the Art!

The post Rattlers – USA, 1976 appeared first on HORRORPEDIA.

‘For God’s sake, get out!’

The Amityville Horror is a 1979 American supernatural horror feature film directed by Stuart Rosenberg from a screenplay by Sandor Stern, based on Jay Anson’s 1977 book of the same name. The movie stars James Brolin, Margot Kidder, Rod Steiger, Don Stroud and Murray Hamilton.

The film’s soundtrack score was provided by Lalo Schifrin (Tales of Halloween; Abominable; The Manitou; Eye of the Cat; et al)

The Amityville Horror was remade in 2005.

George and Kathy Lutz move into their dream home, snapped up at a bargain price on the basis of it being the scene of a multiple murder some time previously. Soon, strange things are happening – the walls are bleeding, there’s an infestation of flies that attack a priest, money goes missing and George begins acting very strangely. It turns out that this is less a haunted house and more a gateway to Hell, with a demonic presence that possesses people and makes them want to kill…

Review:

When it was originally released in 1979, The Amityville Horror was widely dismissed by critics and horror fans as low-rent tat based on a risible ‘true story’. Nevertheless, it made a fortune and spawned numerous sequels, prequels, remakes and imitators. Not having seen the film since the early 1980s, my memory of it was that the critics were right – this was a plodding affair that felt like an overblown TV movie, and not the sort of thing to be the final film bearing the American International Pictures name. Yet time has been kind to The Amityville Horror. Obviously, it’s not an undiscovered masterpiece, but it’s certainly a decent paranormal phenomenon film, and one who’s influence can clearly be seen even now.

While the story that this (and Jay Anson’s original novel) is based on is almost certainly nonsense, the film does a good job of playing things very straight, and Stuart Rosenberg’s direction brings a certain tension to what could easily be ridiculous material. It certainly borrows from earlier movies like The Omen, with its set-piece horrors, but it also sets up several genre tropes that filmmakers like Lucio Fulci would play on over the next few years, and which remain horror staples – the idea of a house being home to an ancient evil rather than mere ghosts was fairly new at the time. I’d still bristle at the notion that the original The Amityville Horror is any sort of classic. However, it’s a great deal better than it probably should be.

David Flint, HORRORPEDIA

On 26 June 2017, Second Sight Films released The Amityville Horror in the UK on Blu-ray as a limited edition SteelBook.

Buy: Amazon.co.uk

• Limited Edition SteelBook
• Restored version of 1080p HD transfer
• ‘Brolin Thunder’ – A new Interview with Actor James Brolin
• ‘Child’s Play’ – A new Interview with Actor Meeno Peluce
• ‘Amityville Scribe’ – A new interview with Screenwriter Sandor Stern
• ‘The Devil in The Music’ – A new Interview with Soundtrack Composer Lalo Schifrin
• ‘My Amityville Horror’ – feature-length documentary with Daniel Lutz
• ‘For God’s Sake, Get Out!’ – featuring James Brolin and Margot Kidder
• Intro by Dr. Hans Holzer, PhD. in Parapsychology (author of ‘Murder in Amityville’)
• Audio Commentary by Dr. Hans Holzer
• Original trailer, TV spot, radio spots
• 4 reproduction lobby card artcards (SteelBook Exclusive)
• DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and uncompressed stereo options
• New optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

Other reviews:

“Ultimately this first entry manages to be effective but just not that good. Which I know sounds weird, but the film succeeds in creating scares and getting in your head, but when it’s all said and done nothing ever really happens. It just sort of toys with you the entire time, which makes it a fun watch late night with the lights turned out, but nothing more.” Chris Coffel, Bloody Disgusting

“When the film isn’t tormenting Steiger, it’s concentrating on George going crazy. Unfortunately, as played by James Brolin, George seems to be in a permanently cranky mood even before he and Kathy move into their new home. Once the Lutz’s movie into the house you find yourself wondering if George is possessed or if he’s just a jerk? Sometimes, it’s hard to tell.” Lisa Marie Bowman, Horror Critic

“Though undeniably spooky in spots, mainly due to the atmospheric direction of Stuart Rosenberg, The Amityville Horror simply can’t escape  the overall silliness of its plot. Luckily, the earnest efforts of its solid cast keep the potential for unintentional humour at a minimum, with exception of Steiger’s usual over-the-top histrionics.” James J. Mulay (editor), The Horror Film, Cinebooks, 1989

“Director Rosenberg and an excellent cast (apart from Steiger’s over-acting) create an atmosphere of claustrophobic horror and, while the movie does not attempt to offer explanations, the result is a first rate haunted house chiller.” Alan Frank, The Horror Film Handbook, Batsford, 1982

“If one follows King’s lead, it’s easy to contextualize The Amityville Horror as a financial nightmare… Similarly, the movie’s dialogue constantly references financial matters. “Bills have to be paid,” says one character. “The IRS is calling,” warns another. ‘They’ll nickel and dime you to death” is a mantra not just about the bill collectors, perhaps, but a warning about the demons in the house.” John Kenneth Muir, Horror Films FAQ: All That’s Left to Know About Slashers, Vampires, Zombies, Aliens, and More, Applause Theatre & Cinema Books, 2013

“Director Stuart Rosenberg crafted an effective horror movie that succeeds largely because the performers take the over-the-top material seriously… The film is taut, tense, and filled with the bizarre, unsettling events chronicled in the book.” James F. Broderick, Now a Terrifying Motion Picture!: Twenty-Five Classic Works of Horror Adapted from Book to Film, McFarland, 2012

” …this is a one-stop shop for all things supernatural horror, if you’re into that kind of thing. However, apart from a few stellar moments, this one doesn’t deserve its longstanding appeal…” Really Awful Movies

“In order to be a horror movie, a horror movie needs a real Horror. The creature in Alien was truly gruesome. The case of possession in The Exorcist was profoundly frightening. The problem with The Amityville Horror is that, in a very real sense, there’s nothing there. We watch two hours of people being frightened and dismayed.” Roger Ebert, January 1, 1979

“Tautly directed, but the thin material, and a dreadfully hammy priest by Steiger, effectively wreck what little suspense remains.” Geoff Andrew, Time Out (London)

“The film works best when it implies rather than shows. Of course we have to take in to account that the film is now nearly forty years old but dated special effects aside, it feels that it loses some of its strength as soon as it starts to try and depict red eyed demons and gateways to hell.” Sinead Beverland, UK Horror Scene

“The plot is standard haunted house stuff with a weak ending and Rod Steiger on hand to chew the scenery as a priest. On the plus side, the house has a feeling of reality to it.” Mike Mayo, Videohound’s Horror Show,Visible Ink Press, 1998

Buy mouse mat: Amazon.co.uk

Buy Amityville Horror Collection on Blu-ray: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Cast and characters:

• James Brolin … George Lutz – The Car
• Margot Kidder … Kathleen “Kathy” Lutz
• Rod Steiger … Father Delaney – Mars Attacks!; American Gothic; The Kindred
• Don Stroud … Father Bolen
• Murray Hamilton … Father Ryan – Too Scared to Scream; Jaws; Jaws 2; The Boston Strangler; Seconds
• John Larch … Father Nuncio
• Natasha Ryan … Amy
• K. C. Martel … Greg
• Meeno Peluce … Matt
• Michael Sacks … Jeff
• Helen Shaver … Carolyn
• Amy Wright … Jackie
• Val Avery … Sgt. Gionfriddo
• Elsa Raven … Mrs. Townsend
• Irene Dailey … Aunt Helena
• Marc Vahanian … Jimmy
• Ellen Saland … Jimmy’s wife
• Eddie Barth … Agucci
• James Tolkan … Coroner

Filming locations:

Tom’s River and Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey (authorities in Amityville denied permission for filming at 112 Ocean Avenue). Interiors were filmed at the MGM studio lot in Los Angeles, California.

Release and Box office:

The Amityville Horror premiered in the United States on July 27, 1979 and took a massive $86,432,000 on its domestic release making it one of the most successful independent productions at the time.

Trivia:

Jay Anson wrote a screenplay based on his work, but the script was rejected by producer Samuel Z. Arkoff

Image credits: Wrong Side of the Art! | VHS Collector

The post The Amityville Horror – USA, 1979 appeared first on HORRORPEDIA.

‘A blinding vision of horror.’

Eyeball is a 1974 Italian/Spanish giallo horror thriller feature film directed by Umberto Lenzi (Cannibal Ferox; Nightmare City; Knife of Ice; Seven Blood-Stained Orchids) from a screenplay co-written with Félix Tusell.

The film’s original Italian title is Gatti rossi in un labirinto di vetro [‘Red Cats in a Glass Labyrinth’]. For international release it was re-titled Wide-Eyed in the Dark and The Secret Killer. US distributor Joseph Brenner Associates (Torso) shortened the title to Eyeball and this has become its most well-known moniker.

The film features a jaunty score by Bruno Nicolai (The Red Queen Kills 7 Times; The Case of the Bloody Iris; All the Colours of the Dark; et al).

88 Films is releasing Eyeball in the UK on August 27, 2018, with a wealth of extras:

• All Eyes on Lenzi – Brand new feature length documentary (80 minutes) detailing the work and legacy of Rome’s most prolific grindhouse nightmare-maker. Features never-before-seen interview footage with Lenzi himself and comments from critics John Martin, Manlio Gomarasca and Rachael Nisbet, academics Calum Waddell and Mikel Koven, actors Danilo Mattei and Giovanni Lombardo Radice and director and writer Scooter McCrae
• Eyeballs on Martine Brochard: 2018 Interview with Actress Martine Brochard
• Eyeball Locations Featurette
• Audio Commentary by the Hysteria Continues
• Eyeball Trailers
• Reversible sleeve featuring alternative artwork
• Four original Gatti rossi in un labirinto di vetro lobby card reproductions
• Limited edition booklet featuring All About Umberto: by Calum Waddell and Cats and Eyeballs: An interview with Umberto Lenzi by Eugenio Ercolani
• Limited edition slipcase

Buy Blu-ray + DVD: Amazon.co.uk

A coach party of American tourists are holidaying in Barcelona when one of them, a young woman, is stabbed to death by a red-gloved assailant. In a gruesome touch, the killer has removed the victim’s left eye.

Next day, the tourist party visits an amusement park. While on a ghost train ride, teenager Peggy is also slain…

Review:

The inherent ridiculousness of this gleeful exercise in exploitation becomes immediately apparent when reading (or worse still, attempting to explain) the demented plot. The notion that once the murders begin the beleaguered holidaymakers would continue with their jolly jaunt around Barcelona, and even take an (ironic) day trip to Sitges is laughable in itself. Thus, Eyeball reigns supreme as one of the most stupid examples of the gialli genre.

The film’s forgettable characters are merely ciphers in a tacky tourist version of an Agatha Christie-like mystery. There are red herrings galore and a mixed-race bitchy lesbian couple are on hand to up the exploitation ante and some brief topless nudity. Unfortunately, top-billed John Richardson is bland and Martine Brochard also makes for a weak female lead.

The onscreen lunacy is laced with an unforgettably trashy theme by Bruno Nicolai which is repeated so often – and at different tempos – it becomes hilariously hypnotic. Despite all its faults, Eyeball has an undeniably curious appeal that, like the undersized coach that the sightseers board every few minutes, carries the viewer on through the mayhem.

At least Eyeball stands up to repeated viewings, unlike Lenzi’s Spasmo, which is serious in tone, yet convoluted and dull. The murder scene at the amusement park, which is replete with the rapid zooms and edits that often characterised early seventies Eurotrash, is perhaps the film’s brief horror highlight.

Adrian J Smith, HORRORPEDIA

Other reviews:

“There is a constant mix of intrigue, mystery, violence, sex and new locations (when the leads are on a tour bus, they’re in a different spot every day) to keep the viewer watching. And, there are just enough goofy bits (in the dubbing and in the general scheme of things) to make you smile.” Dan Budnik, Bleeding Skull!

“Lenzi’s giallo is often nonsensical and clumsily crafted, but it’s also a deliciously daft and thoroughly entertaining slice of pasta flavoured nonsense. Any fan of the genre couldn’t help but be enthralled by the heady brew of groovy 70’s fashions, jiggling breasts, more twists than a mountain road, bloody slash action … and some choice, choice dialogue.” Hysteria Lives!

“Eyeball moves at a nice, quick pace and features a fantastic score from famed composer Bruno Nicolai. The movie also benefits from some great location work. Lenzi changes locations in this film often, so that even in those few moments where the pace does slow a bit, we get some nice eye candy.” Ian Jane, Rock! Shock! Pop!

The shocks are telegraphed throughout, and in lieu of interesting characters, there is not much of an opportunity to generate a lot of suspense. Lenzi indulges in plenty of travelogue views of the city, thus padding the running time to no discernible effect. The pacing is also rather slow and there is plenty of unintended humor to boost.” Troy Howarth, So Deadly, So Perverse: 50 Years of Italian Giallo Films, Midnight Marquee Press, 2015

” …there are no real standout performances from the cast, though they do not necessarily do a bad job, but it adds to the overall mediocrity of the film. Still, Eyeball turned out to be an enjoyable feature where those looking for a little violence and a little blood will no doubt be pleased and those looking for something of a game changer being disappointed.” The Telltale Mind

“Spain is presented in lush colours and inimitable 70s fashion choices, which lends the film a pleasantly diverting quality, as if you’re taking a holiday from the same-old American slasher film conventions. Nothing really lets Eyeball down, it just suffers from the ridiculousness that haunts the whole sub-genre…” Hudson Lee, Vegan Voorhees

“The basic problem with the film is that a group of tourists being suspected of murder is kinda silly. I mean people keep dying off, and yet the sightseeing trip continues. Of course, logic isn’t the sort of thing you crave in a giallo, but it kinda undermines some of the tension. Still, that eyeball-ripping finale is so great that it’s hard to really nitpick.” Mitch Lovell, The Video Vacuum

Choice dialogue:

Gail: “This is a rotten vacation I don’t mind telling you.”

Inspector Tudela: “Even the craziest of killers follows a certain logic, however absurd, mad as a hatter, there’s always some logic to it.”

Cast and characters:

• Martine Brochard … Paulette Stone
• John Richardson … Mark Burton
• Ines Pellegrini … Naiba Levin
• Mirta Miller … Lisa Sanders
• Daniele Vargas … Robby Alvarado
• Andrés Mejuto … Inspector Tudela
• George Rigaud … Reverend Bronson
• Silvia Solar … Gail Alvarado
• Raf Baldassarre … Martinez
• José María Blanco … Inspector Lara
• Marta May … Alma Burton
• John Bartha … Mr. Hamilton
• Olga Pehar … Mrs. Randall
• Verónica Miriel … Jenny Hamilton
• Olga Montes
• Richard Kolin … Mr. Randall
• Rina Mascetti … Hospital Nurse
• Fulvio Mingozzi … Policeman
• Vittorio Fanfoni
• Francesco Narducci … Receptionist at Hotel Presidente
• Tom Felleghy … Coroner
• Lorenzo Piani
• Nestore Cavaricci … Policeman
• Carolyn De Fonseca … Gail Alvarado
• Laura Trotter … Murder Victim at Castle

Trivia:

The first sight of a bottle of J&B whisky -normally, ubiquitous product placement in gialli – does not occur until 55 minutes in during a flamenco dancing scene.

The post Eyeball aka Wide-Eyed in the Dark – Italy/Spain, 1974 appeared first on HORRORPEDIA.

‘When the honeymoon was over the terror began’

The Blood Spattered Bride – original title: La novia ensangrentada – is a 1972 Spanish horror feature film written and directed by Vicente Aranda (Las Crueles), loosely based on the vampire story, Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu.

The movie stars Simón Andreu, Maribel Martín, and Alexandra Bastedo.

A well-known US trailer advertising a double feature paired with the 1974 film I Dismember Mama was filmed in the style of a news report covering the “story” of an audience member who had gone insane while watching the films.

On February 13, 2018, the film was released on Blu-ray by Mondo Macabro with a host of special features.

Buy Blu-ray: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

• Brand new 4k transfer from film negative
• English/Spanish audio choice
• Newly created English subtitles
• Audio commentary by Diabolique magazine staffers
• Interview with cinematographer Fernando Arribas
• Two part interview with actor Simón Andreu
• Interview with Euro Gothic author Jonathan Rigby
• Original trailers and radio spots
• Deleted and alternate scenes
• Mondo Macabro previews

Reviews:

“The perfect film for backward-thinking goths who are interested in lesbian relationships that involve vampires and shooting fox hunters in the crotch with shotguns, The Blood Spattered Bride, with its eerie organ score by Antonio Pérez Olea, manages to create an ethereal atmosphere with an effortless elan.” House of Self-Indulgence

” …what motivated all the cuts in the original American version wasn’t so much the excess or outrageousness of the deleted footage, but rather the distributor’s fear that American audiences (and more to the point, state film censorship boards) were so uncomfortable with the very idea of lesbianism that to release the movie in anything like its original form would be the kiss of death at the box office.” 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting

“The Blood Spattered Bride’s really-not-very-sub subtexts and eerie visuals – ruined palace estates; wandering veiled women; the wings of frightened, fluttering birds – make it a compelling watch for horror devotees. However, its indulgence in ham-fisted shock tactics (never more so than at its abrupt, bullet-ridden conclusion) and its ultimately murky gender politics make it a very weird watch too…” Notcoming.com

“On a directorial level, The Blood Spattered Bride is perfunctorily made. Everything is straightforward – there is little subtlety or anything that works on any other level. However, the film is not entirely without occasional moments of interest. Director Vicente Aranda throws in intermittent images of surrealistic appeal…” Richard Scheib, Moria

“Although sluggish in pacing, the film still succeeds and is a favorite amongst Euro horror buffs. Most of the meat is in the third act, but the discovery of the vampire Mircalla — buried in the beach sand, breathing through a snorkel and having her bare breasts dug out — is unforgettable. A dream sequence where a man has his heart torn out is also particularly nasty.” George R. Reis, DVD Drive-In

“I’m glad this project is Aranda’s. He seems interested in grounding the everyday cruelties of the husband in the reality of the off-handed way of how badly some men can treat women. This is important because it takes the gay panic angle of the narrative and provides a contrast between his abuse and the tender scenes between the wife and Carmilla.” Braineater

“The Blood-Spattered Bride is bizarre, yet cohesive; interesting and entertaining. The dubbing is decent, and while the cinematography isn’t especially stunning (not like another well-crafted Carmilla tale Blood and Roses, which predates this version by a decade) it’s nicely done and reveals some of stranger scenes (like the one below) with a good deal of fetishy-suspense.” Horror.com

Buy DVD: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

“The film itself will not appeal to all tastes, thanks to the slow pacing and disorienting storyline, but game viewers will be rewarded with a unique vampire tale graced with hefty dollops of eroticism. The strange, jittery music score creates unease from the opening scene, and the evocative imagery of director Aranda wouldn’t look out of place in one of Jean Rollin’s vampire sagas.” Nathaniel Thompson, Mondo Digital

“With Susan vulnerable and violent by turns, and her partner overbearing and thoughtful in similar switches of character, it’s hard to see whose side we’re meant to be on, so by the end Aranda looks to have thrown his hands up as if noting both are as bad as each other, leaving us with a succession of striking images but none the wiser about our conclusions.” Graeme Clark, The Spinning Image

Cast and characters:

• Simón Andreu as the husband – Beyond Re-Animator; Death Carries a Cane; Death Walks at Midnight; Death Walks High-Heels; Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion
• Maribel Martín as Susan – Bell from Hell; The House That Screamed
• Alexandra Bastedo as Mircalla/Carmilla – The Ghoul
• Rosa Maria Rodriguez as Carol
• Dean Selmier as the doctor

Pressbook for Europix International Ltd. U.S. release

British cinema poster on a double-bill with Mario Bava’s Shock

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Symptoms  is a 1974 British horror film directed by José Ramón Larraz (Rest in Pieces; Vampyres; Scream – and Die!) from a screenplay co-written with Stanley Miller. The movie stars Angela Pleasence, Peter Vaughan and Lorna Heilbron.

Having been working in Switzerland, Helen Ramsey (Angela Pleasance) is back in her family home, a large country house but seems nervous and unsettled. She has a guest, her friend Ann West (Lorna Heilbron). Another friend, Cora had apparently been also living in the house until recently.

Meanwhile, a gardener/odd-job man named Brady  lurks around the grounds. Voices are heard in the night and Helen becomes convinced that the attic holds the answer…

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Reviews:

” …the fantasy of lesbianism as a pathological phenomenon clearly signals that Larraz is presenting a decidedly male-anxiety scenario, a tendency confirmed in his compellingly erotic Vampyres (1974). As such, the picture is less about a lesbian relationship than a representation of a panicky attempt to exorcize – and thus to recognize – the very notion of female sexuality distinct from and irreducible to men’s definition of it.” Phil Hardy (editor), The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror

” …it’s a slow burner but John Scott’s excellent score and Larraz’s sparse but effective use of shock tactics (a face at a window; a briefly glimpsed figure at the edge of the frame that really shouldn’t be there) ensure a mounting sense of dread. Pleasence steals the show but is capably assisted by Lorna Heilbron…” Kevin Lyons, BFI

“Essentially a two-woman chamber drama disguised as an out-to-lunch slasher, Symptoms is a beautifully orchestrated excursion into the spook-filled, anxiety-ridden mind of a very damaged girl.” Joseph A. Ziemba, Bleeding Skull!

“The first hour is stomach churning tension and chilling atmosphere that will drag you white-knuckled to the last thirty minutes that is filled with some surprisingly vicious violence and bloodshed […] There is a haunting music score but Larraz uses the natural sounds of the house and surroundings to put the viewer on edge. Symptoms is not what you expect from José Ramón Larraz if all you know him from is his more shocking and popular films.” Greg Baty, Cinesploitation

“Unsettling from the opening frames and propelled steadily forward by a building sense of dark intrigue and peaking in scenes of genuinely screw-tightening tension, it’s an atmospherically shot, eerily scored and thoughtfully directed psychological thriller with an excellent central performance from an actress who, on the basis of this alone, made far too few films.” Cineoutsider

“Helen’s remote country estate looks damp and chilly and devoid of any bright colors, surrounded by fetid overgrowth that’s gloomy under perpetually drizzly, gray skies. Atmosphere and mood is everything in Symptoms, and Larraz’s marshaling and command of the naturalistic sights and sounds of this dreamy yet increasingly oppressive environment is masterful.” Paul Mavis, DVD Drive-In

“This movie makes good use of sound, is quite creepy, and has a strong air of mystery to it. It’s a bit on the slow side, but as long as the mystery drives the story, it holds the attention. Unfortunately, a movie like this has to start delivering on some of the mystery, and sometimes the revelations aren’t quite as satisfying as the mystery itself, and such is the case here.” Dave Sindelar, Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings

“What won me over aside from the gorgeous scenery and haunting atmosphere of the movie was the rather good performance from Angela Pleasance, who was not an actress who starred in a lot of movies, but her slightly awkward demeanor and haunted expressions really sold me on the inner struggle and madness of the character that made for a compelling watch.” Ken Kastenhuber, McBastard’s Mausoleum

“It is interesting in terms of its atmosphere of unease, although this also becomes overstrained and the film eventually becomes a vacuous, pseudo-arty offering. Frequently it appears to have been constructed around lengthy, meaningful pauses. What the twist ending means could be is anybody’s guess.” Richard Scheib, Moria

“The film benefits hugely from a strong, sympathetic performance from Pleasance at the centre of the film – very much humanising her monster – and solid, assured direction from Larraz, suggesting that he could well have moved on to bigger and better things, given the breaks. It’s a dark, creepy and effective horror film, and impressive study of madness and a genuine work of art.” James McBean, The Reprobate

“The cinematography by Trevor Wrenn does a great job of helping to build the tension that basically explodes in the last half hour of the film […] Symptoms is a bit of a slow burn but it’s really well done. The performances from the two female leads coupled with the gorgeous camerawork and the eerie locations make this twisted thriller one well worth seeking out.” Ian Jane, Rock! Shock! Pop!

“…the finest British horror movie from a foreigner since Polanski’s Repulsion. The comparison is inevitable, because thematically the films have a good deal in common, charting the gradual mental dissolution of their spectral heroines. Symptoms imitates, but also improves on its original in a multiplicity of ways. The muted love affair between Pleasence and Lorna Heilbron is etched with enormous suggestiveness, and Larraz’s eye for visual detail is mesmerizing.” Time Out London

“The plot of Symptoms is a little predictable by modern standards, it’s a thriller about infatuation and jealousy, themes that are used constantly in film and television. It doesn’t take long to unravel the mysteries of this film, but it does give it that impending doom feeling.” Christopher Stewart, UK Horror Scene

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Choice dialogue:

Helen: “Sudden changes in the weather always upset me. I don’t know why.”

Helen: “Your ears are still full of soap. I can hear things that no-one else can.”

Main cast and characters:

• Angela Pleasence as Helen Ramsey – Dr. Terrible’s House of Horrible; The Godsend; From Beyond the Grave
• Peter Vaughan as Brady – The Return short; The Pied Piper; Straw Dogs; Die! Die! My Darling! 
• Lorna Heilbron as Anne Weston – The Creeping Flesh
• Nancy Nevinson as Hannah
• Ronald O’Neil as John
• Marie-Paule Mailleux as Cora Porter
• Mike Grady [as Michael Grady] as Nick
• Raymond Huntley as Burke

Filming locations:

Harefield Grove, Harefield, London, England, UK
High Street, Pinner, Middlesex, England, UK
Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Release:

Symptoms premiered at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival as the first official British entry. It was briefly released in the UK in 1976. It was shown on British television once in 1983 and then seemed lost for years until being released on Blu-ray and DVD by the BFI on 25 April 2016. A Blu-ray release in the USA by Mondo Macabro swiftly followed on May 10, 2016.

Trivia:

Jean Seberg was originally cast as Helen Ramsey but had to drop out of the production due to the fact that she was not a member of Equity the actor’s union; Angela Pleasence replaced her in the leading role. Pleasence described the film shoot as consisting of long days that required her to “get up at four in the morning, and not be home before eleven at night,” and noted that director Larraz was controlling on set.

The film was apparently also released as The Blood Virgin

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‘Only the blood of drug addicts can satisfy its thirst!’

Blood Freak is a 1972 American horror feature film, produced and directed by Brad F. Grinter (who also appears on screen as a narrator) and actor Steve Hawkes. It is “the world’s only turkey-monster-anti-drug-pro-Jesus gore film!”

A biker comes upon a girl with a flat tire and offers her a ride home. He winds up at a drug party with the girl’s sister, then follows her to a turkey farm owned by her father, a mad scientist.

The father turns the biker into a giant turkey monster who goes after drug dealers….

Reviews:

“Peerless, disturbed, and completely stupid, it’s a glorification of all things crooked and perplexing in 70s exploitation films. The sheer concept (and series of events) baffles endlessly, making Grinter and friends’ seeming sincerity a trivial footnote.” Joseph A Ziemba, Bleeding Skull

“If you threw a Ron Ormond pro-Christian message flick, a nauseating H.G. Lewis gorefest, and an anti-pot PSA into a blender, Blood Freak would eventually pour into your glass. Sure, it’s an often-quoted cliche by now, but this movie is like nothing you’ve ever seen before! The acting’s appalling (Chesty Morgan deserves an Oscar compared to these people!), the production values ludicrously cheap, and the script is intensely stupid.” Casey Scott, DVD Drive-In

“What is this movie, then? Bad monster flick? Anti-drug scare film? Christian exploitation cinema? Low-budget mishmash or bad ideas? In truth, Blood Freak is all that and more. A bastard offspring of Herschel Gordon Lewis (and I must say some of the blood and gore effects in this film, particularly one where a guy gets his leg sawed off, are surprisingly effective given the utter incompetence of everything else on display) and Ron Ormond, Blood Freak is unlike anything else that’s ever been made—or ever will be made.” Trash Film Guru

This VHS sleeve utilises artwork for Jesus Franco’s Devil Hunter (1980)

“The acting, makeup and rock music soundtrack are all wonderfully horrible.” Michael Weldon, The Psychotronic Video Guide

“The question of how seriously this was intended lingers, though they don’t look self-aware enough to be implementing much savvy, leaving Blood Freak an endurance test, but a damned weird, at times hilarious, one.” Graeme Clark, The Spinning Image

“Are you a cinema masochist? Do you enjoy your C-movies chock full of atrocious acting, ludicrous plotting, and bargain basement production values? Do you demand your horror sleaze be punctuated by bumbling sex, little sophistication, and tons of hokey symbolism? Then this bird’s for you!” The Terror Trap

“What were Hawkes and Grinter thinking? With the pro-Christian elements, one has to wonder if they were really trying to put a positive message in this movie, while trying to make something “commercial”. But did they really think a movie with such poor production values could be commercial? That turkey head mask will have viewers screaming with laughter, not simply screaming.” The Unknown Movies

“This one belongs in the ‘so terrible it’s hilarious’ genre […] Contains some gore, 70s outfits, some female flesh, Christian preaching, and editing and dialog that would make Ed Wood cringe.” The Worldwide Celluloid Massacre

” … one of the most bizarre, inexplicable and confusing films ever made.” Brian Albright, Regional Horror Films, 1958 – 1990

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‘If you survive this night… nothing will ever scare you again.’

Communion is a 1976 American slasher horror feature film directed by Alfred Sole (Tanya’s Island, Pandemonium) from a screenplay co-written with Rosemary Ritvo. It stars Linda Miller, Paula Sheppard, Brooke Shields and Mildred Clinton.

The film was released theatrically under different titles: first as Communion in November 1976; as The Mask Murders in 1977; as Alice, Sweet Alice (now the title it is best known as) in 1978; and as Holy Terror in 1981.

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On 9 July 2018, the film was released on Blu-ray by 88 Films with the following extras:

• All Region Codes
• New 2K Scan and Restoration from Positive Elements
• Restored LPCM Original Mono Audio
• Optional English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by Director Alfred Sole and Editor Edward Salier
• Original Trailer
• “Communion” TV Spot
• Poster & Home Video Artwork Gallery
• Restoration Comparison
• Reversible Sleeve
• Matt Finish Cardboard O-Ring

A remake was reportedly planned for many years, to be directed by Dante Tomaselli and co-scripted by Fangoria magazine managing editor Michael Gingold. However, this is a project seemingly still in development Hell.

Paterson, New Jersey: the early 1960s. Catherine Spages (Linda Miller) is visiting Father Tom (Rudolph Willrich) with her two daughters, who both attend St. Michael’s Parish Girls’ School: nine-year-old Karen (Brooke Shields) and twelve-year-old Alice (Paula Sheppard).

Karen is preparing for her First Communion and Father Tom gives her his mother’s crucifix as a gift. A jealous Alice puts on a creepy, translucent grinning mask, frightening Mrs. Tredoni (Mildred Clinton), Father Tom’s housekeeper.

Later, Alice steals Karen’s porcelain doll and lures her into an abandoned building with it. She jumps out and scares Karen with the grinning mask and locks her in a room. When she lets her out she tells her that if anyone finds out, she’ll never see the doll again.

On the day of the First Communion, Karen is attacked and strangled to death, by a person in a translucent mask and yellow. Her body is dragged away by her right arm and dumped into a bench compartment, which is set on fire with a candle, but not before ripping the crucifix from her neck. Smoke begins to fill the church.

Meanwhile, Alice enters the church, carrying her shiny yellow raincoat. She kneels in Karen’s place to receive communion when a scream is heard. A curious nun had entered the back room where the confessionals are located, and found Karen’s body. People run in, horrified…

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Reviews:

“ … doesn’t shy away from depicting tremendous violence towards a child (one of the major taboos). Karen’s murder is a tremendously upsetting scene made all the more disturbing by the religious imagery. Her crucifix is ripped from her neck in her final moments and her dead body is stuffed into a pew and then lit on fire. As horrifyingly brutal as the action is, it’s shot beautifully.’ Miss Sardonicus

“Crammed with surprises and offbeat touches, this can be a disorientating experience on first viewing but yields countless rewards along the way. Even minor characters are memorably sketched, particularly Alice’s ridiculously obese neighbour, Mr. Alphonso…” Nathaniel Thompson, DVD Delirium Volume 1

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” …far more than a sterile exercise in suspense: Communion constantly keeps the audience on its toes with a wealth of incidental detail, excellent set pieces and technical versatility.” Chris Peachment, Time Out Film Guide

” …a very loud, crude slash-and-stab horror thriller. Gross and unpleasant.” Donald C. Wills, Horror and Science Fiction Films II

“Like Schizo, Alice, Sweet, Alice distinguishes itself mostly in the sheer breadth and graphic nature of its bloody violence. There are some sudden and surprise attacks, as well as the obligatory “revelations” sequence at the end but today the film looks hackneyed despite the moments of horror…” John Kenneth Muir, Horror Films of the 1970s

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“Director Alfred Soles’ use of middle-class New Jersey locations recalls the better work of George Romero, and he fills the screen with realistic grotesques […] Despite a modest budget it has aged better than many more expensive productions of the same era. The ending’s terrific.” Mike Mayo, The Horror Show Guide

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” … I was satisfied with it’s twist ending and some over the top Joan Crawford level acting from Alice’s aunt Annie. It’s a bit deeper than your usual slasher fare with the addition of strange sexual undertones between Alice and the overweight eyebrow challenged neighbor Mr. Alphonso, Alice’s disturbing shrine to her sister, and the housekeepers obsession with Father Tom.” I Love Hot Dogs

“Paula Sheppard gives a fantastic performance as Alice. The fear and horror of the film are augmented by the omnipresent Catholic imagery. This is thinking person’s horror, with a dash of blood and mystery, and a tense, suspenseful accomplishment.” Adam Lukeman, Fangoria’s 101 Best Horror Movies You’ve Never Seen

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“With superbly insolent skill, Sole plays the Hitchcock game to the hilt as the diminutive figure of the killer in a hooded yellow oilskin and flesh-pink mask pursues its path of vengeance, while red herrings multiply…” The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror

Release:

During the changes in distributors and due to a myriad of legal problems, the film was not properly registered with the United States Copyright Office in 1975 during its production. As a result, the film became widely bootlegged in the following years.

In the US, it was released officially by Anchor Bay Entertainment on VHS in 1997, and on laserdisc by the Roan Group, in a remastered and uncut print supervised by director Alfred Sole. It was later released on DVD in 1999 by Anchor Bay Entertainment; after this edition of the film became out of print, it was re-released on DVD by Hen’s Tooth Video in 2007.

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Cast and characters:

• Linda Miller … Catherine Spages
• Mildred Clinton … Mrs. Tredoni
• Paula E. Sheppard … Alice Spages [credited as Paula Sheppard]
• Niles McMaster … Dominick ‘Dom’ Spages
• Jane Lowry … Aunt Annie DeLorenze
• Rudolph Willrich … Father Tom
• Michael Hardstark … Detective Spina
• Alphonso DeNoble … Alphonso
• Gary Allen … Jim DeLorenze
• Brooke Shields … Karen Spages
• Louisa Horton … Dr. Whitman
• Tom Signorelli … Detective Brennan
• Antonino Rocca … Funeral Director
• Lillian Roth … Pathologist
• Kathy Rich … Angela DeLorenze
• Patrick Gorman … Father Pat

Trivia:

For the film’s special effects, which include multiple murder sequences by bludgeoning and stabbing, Sole hired friend William Lustig, who would later direct Maniac (1980) and Maniac Cop.

We are grateful to Cult Forever for the VHS sleeve that re-uses artwork from Raging Fury (1986), Westgate Gallery for the Italian locandina poster image and Temple of Schlock for the ad mats.

The Dutch VHS sleeve above uses artwork from Raging Fury (1986).

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